


Empowered

by Sassy_Lil_Scorpio



Category: The Walking Dead (TV)
Genre: Andrea connects with Shane, Andrea is stronger thanks to Shane, Andrea lacks connection with the group, Andrea muses on her interactions with Shane and Dale, Dale is protective, Gen, Living for others vs. living for yourself, Shane has impacted Andrea, Shane's life experiences, Vignette, fight to survive, the will to live
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-16
Updated: 2020-09-16
Packaged: 2021-03-07 01:07:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,456
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26498383
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sassy_Lil_Scorpio/pseuds/Sassy_Lil_Scorpio
Summary: Dale wanted to take the gun out of Andrea's hands, but Shane wanted to put the gun in Andrea's hands.
Relationships: Andrea Harrison/Shane Walsh
Comments: 2
Kudos: 2





	Empowered

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Atlantech](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Atlantech/gifts).



> Disclaimer: Shane Walsh, Andrea Harrison, and Dale Horvath belong to Robert Kirkman. This author claims no ownership. No monetary gain is being made from this work.
> 
> This vignette came to me while thinking about why Andrea gravitated towards Shane and was at odds with Dale in Season 2.

Andrea sat on the porch of Hershel's home and watched as Dale climbed to the top of his RV so that he could start his shift as look-out. It was late afternoon and the group would have dinner with Hershel's family in another hour. For the time being, she decided to sit alone, lost in her own thoughts. She found that she enjoyed her solitude as it gave her time to process things. Dale sat in the seat and her eyes remained glued to the gun that had been slung on his shoulder. It rested on his lap now so that he would be ready to shoot a walker at a second's notice. She wondered what type of gun Dale carried. After he took away her gun, she had never bothered to ask him. It wasn't a stretch to say things were tense between them ever since he convinced her to leave the CDC, thereby abandoning her suicide attempt. Just then, she heard a familiar male voice behind her.

"Remington 700 VLS. Nice piece, but not as sweet as yours."

Andrea's eyebrows rose when she recognized Shane's voice. Shane came around so that he was standing in front of her.

"Wanna go out for some more shootin' lessons?"

Shane's question was genuine, but Andrea couldn't help but blush. Last time he gave her shooting lessons, it ended with them having hot sex in the Hyundai. She learned how to shoot walkers and gained confidence that day—after walking off from him when he brought up Amy to rile her up. He acknowledged he was wrong and she joined him again to shoot walkers in a nearby neighborhood. After that…Andrea smiled at the memory. The truth was the entire day remained etched in Andrea's memories—physically and emotionally. She briefly wondered if "shootin' lessons" was Shane's code for "wanna hook up again?", but she didn't have the nerve to ask. Instead, she decided to focus on what he had literally asked her: shooting lessons.

"Not today, Shane. Maybe tomorrow morning?"

Shane nodded, approvingly. "See you then."

Without another word, Shane walked off. Andrea hadn't bothered to ask him where he was going. She simply watched the way Shane carried himself. Head up, shoulders back. Self-assured. Masculine. Shane's unshakable confidence was admirable—at least, in Andrea's eyes it was. Not everyone felt the same way… That prickly feeling on her back indicated someone was staring at her. She looked in the direction of the RV. Dale was watching her watch Shane. He shook his head silently at Andrea, showing his disapproval.

Andrea turned away, refusing to acknowledge Dale. She had nothing to say to him. When she and Amy first met Dale, they had quickly connected. Dale was friendly and invited them to stay in his RV for shelter when their car stalled on the road coming back from Florida. It was the beginning of the outbreak and Dale's arrival saved them just in time. From that time on, he treated the sisters as his daughters. While it seemed protective at first, it had become irksome to Andrea.

He took away her gun.

In his mind, it was an attempt to keep her alive. Save her from herself. Keep her safe from self-harm. Prevent her from putting the gun in her mouth and pulling the trigger. It angered Andrea and she realized her fists were clenched, indicating her inner thoughts and feelings. She glanced in the RV's direction again. Dale was still watching her and she didn't care now if he saw her angry expression—be it painted on her face or present in her body language.

Dale wasn't doing her any favors. Taking away her gun would only make Andrea helpless to defend herself against walkers and dependent on others for her safety. She didn't know which was worse. As it was, she didn't feel connected with anyone in the group. Not since Amy died. Rick was focused on Lori and Carl. Daryl and Carol seemed to be developing a bond, but Carol was also grieving the loss of Sophia and still not knowing what became of her daughter. She got along fine with T-Dog and Glenn, but only on a superficial level, small talk. Jim and Jacqui were dead. Who knew what became of Merle. Morales had left with his family to travel to Alabama to see if they could locate their relatives. Ed was an abusive asshole who deserved to get ripped apart by walkers as far as she was concerned. There was the Greene family, but Andrea hadn't really hit off with Maggie, Beth, or Hershel. Jim and Patricia were just there.

That left Shane.

Shane wasn't the easiest person to get along with, but he was the most real. He understood that survival meant making tough choices—something the group still hadn't grasped. Even after all this time. Andrea didn't understand why the group was so slow to understand this. Maybe it was denial of their fallen world or a well-intentioned, but foolish hope that the old world would return. Maybe if they lost someone they loved, the way she lost Amy, it would force them to wake up and face reality. She couldn't understand for the life of her how Hershel and his family thought the walkers were "sick people". It didn't make sense at all.

Andrea noticed how Shane spoke in a cloaked way about "turn off the switch" when making split-second life-and-death situations. How it was far different when facing walkers who kept coming for you. Shane knew what it was like out there. Without him telling her directly, Andrea knew Shane had firsthand experience of fighting for his life—and for the life of someone he loved and cared about. Dale didn't have that life-or-death experience dealing with walkers, and so in Andrea's mind, he didn't understand why Shane was so adamant about ensuring everyone in the group had a gun. Sure, there was that time when Shane acted like a jerk and insisted that Dale hold onto the guns—but that was before Shane went to the school with Otis.

Shane returned by himself and Andrea never asked him about that night.

She had been there for Otis' service, but the way Shane spoke was strange. His tone was subdued and completely unlike him. Many times Andrea wanted to ask him what really happened that night. She wanted to know detail by detail—what changed Shane so drastically? Why did he shave off his hair? Why was he more aggressive about his stance on what it took to keep everyone safe? Andrea was curious about why Shane kept pushing everyone away, and yet at the same time, why he insisted on everyone be trained on how to properly use a gun. On one hand, he wanted everyone to be safe, but his presentation was off-putting. So much so that his message about doing whatever it takes to stay alive—it got lost, misinterpreted, and worse yet, he was dismissed by the group as someone who was losing his mind and displacing his fear on everyone else.

Even so, Andrea was grateful for Shane. She was glad he taught her, that he pushed her until she got fed up with him for badgering her and bringing up Amy's death. As much as he could be a dick, and she had told him so—the truth was Shane forced her to get angry and not wallow in self-pity. Feeling sorry for herself wouldn't help her if she was surrounded by walkers—but getting furious with the will to survive would. Fear wasn't an option either. Shane told her had to shut that down too and act. He trained her to be strong and defend herself, which is what she needed. She didn't need to protection from herself as Dale thought—and Andrea knew he was doing it for himself because he didn't want to lose her. If she could defend herself, then she could protect others. If she could protect others, then she could survive in this new crazy world filled with cannibalistic corpses.

Andrea looked in Dale's direction again. He was looking out into the field and then he caught her eye. She could tell from where she sat that he was sighing in disappointment. Disappointment that she admired Shane and viewed him as a leader. Andrea simply offered a wide smile. Dale wanted to take the gun out of Andrea's hands to protect herself from herself, but Shane wanted to put the gun in Andrea's hands to protect herself against any threats—living and dead. And Andrea finally realized that she gravitated towards Shane because he taught her to live for herself—and no one else.

**-Fin-**

****


End file.
